BORDEAUX

city and port, capital of Gironde dpartement, Aquitaine rgion, southwestern France. It lies along the Garonne River 15 miles (24 km) above its junction with the Dordogne and 60 miles (96 km) from its mouth, in a plain east of the wine-growing district of Mdoc. The dry soil of Mdoc attracted settlement as early as the Bronze Age; and, at least since Roman times, Bordeaux has been a flourishing town and port, with connections particularly with Spain and Britain. As Burdigala, it was the chief town of the Bituriges Vivisci, a Celtic people. Under the Romans it was the capital of the province of Aquitania, which extended from the Pyrenees to the Loire. In the 4th century Burdigala, then the capital of Aquitania Secunda (one of the three parts into which the emperor Diocletian had divided Aquitania), was described by the writer Ausonius, a native of the city, as a square, walled town and one of the great educational centres of Gaul. In the decline of the Roman Empire, the region around Bordeaux entered a period of political instability from which it recovered only when the dukes of Aquitaine established themselves early in the 10th century. As part of the inheritance of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bordeaux, along with the rest of the duchy, became English in 1154 upon the accession of her husband to the English throne, as Henry II. His 14th-century descendant Edward the Black Prince, who for 20 years held court at Bordeaux and whose son, Richard (later King Richard II), was born there, is still honoured in the city. Under the English, Bordeaux was given unusual freedom: mayors were elected from 1235, and a thriving trade developed with England's ports. Neighbouring towns such as Saint-milion and Libourne joined a federation under the leadership of Bordeaux. After the French victory over the English at Castillon in 1453, the city was united to France; but the burghers of Bordeaux long resisted limitation of their municipal freedoms, and 120 of them were executed after a salt-tax rebellion in 1548. The 17th century was a period of disturbance. There were massacres in the Wars of Religion, and trade withered. In the 18th century Bordeaux again prospered from the triangular trade: slaves from Africa to the West Indies, sugar and coffee back to Bordeaux, then arms and wines back to Africa. The Marquis de Tourny, intendant of Guyenne, made the city pleasing with squares and fine buildings. The Girondist Party of the French Revolution was formed in Bordeaux, which suffered severely during the Reign of Terror. After suffering from the English blockade during the Napoleonic Wars, the city in 1814 declared for the Bourbons, prompting Louis XVIII to give his grandnephew the title of Duke de Bordeaux. After the coming of the railways, the great improvements to the port and the increase in trade with West Africa and South America led to increased prosperity. In 1870, during the Franco-German War, the French government was transferred to Bordeaux when the Germans approached Tours, and the government was at Bordeaux when Paris was threatened by the Germans in August 1914, at the outset of World War I. In June 1940, during World War II, when a German advance became again a menace to Paris, the French government moved first to Tours and later to Bordeaux. There Premier Paul Reynaud led a minority in the government favouring war to the finish. Among his supporters were Charles de Gaulle and Georges Mandel. Reynaud sent appeals for immediate help to the United States and Great Britain. He was overridden by the opposition, however, and resigned on June 16, two days after the Germans entered Paris. Bordeaux was severely bombed before its occupation by German troops and, again, by the Allies when it was an important German air and submarine base. The city was reoccupied, largely by French forces, in August 1944. Since 1945 Bordeaux has continued to expand, with many new suburbs being built. The modern city of Bordeaux is surrounded by a semicircle of boulevards, beyond which lie the suburbs of Le Bouscat, Caudran, Mrignac, Talence, and Bgles. The Garonne River (1,6502,250 feet [500690 m] wide), separating the city proper from the suburb of La Bastide, embraces a 5-mile (8-kilometre) crescent of broad quays, behind which rise tall warehouses, factories, and mansions. Outside the great city squares are characteristic low, white houses. La Bastide, on the right bank, is reached by a 19th-century bridge. Some gates of the old city wall remain, and there are ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. The Grand Thtre (177580), with its statue-topped colonnade, is one of the finest in France; its imposing double stairway and cupola were later imitated by the architect Tony Garnier for the Paris Opra. Farther down the quay is the Esplanade des Quinconces, one of the largest squares in Europe; it contains a monument to the Girondins and huge statues of Montesquieu and Michel de Montaigne (the latter's tomb is at the university, founded 1441). Bordeaux's ecclesiastical antiquities include two 15th-century bell towers: the bell tower of Pey-Berland, near Saint-Andr's Cathedral, and the Saint-Michel Tower, with a spire of 357 feet (109 m). A late 20th-century urban development plan called for the renovation of the city centre and extension of new districts northward around a large lake and along the west bank of the Gironde Estuary. An exhibition hall was built, as well as a large, modern bridge connecting the city with the nearby national highway (only one bridge formerly existed for foot and automobile traffic across the Garonne). The great families of Bordeaux made their fortunes in shipping and trade, especially of the celebrated wines of Bordeaux. The prosperity of these wine-growing and wine-trading houses took a great leap at the time of the English domination. After a critical period during the 15th17th century, prosperity returned in the 18th century and has maintained itself ever since, despite problems of weather and grape parasites, the most critical of which was the phylloxera infestation of 1869. The modern extent of the vineyards is about half its former maximum area. The government of France and the local growers regard control of quality and quantity of these wines as essential to the preservation of a major export market. The port area has had importance since the 18th century, but it is increasingly transferring this function to its five outports (seaward terminals for deep-draft vessels), especially for traffic with the Antilles, Africa, and the west coast of France. In recent years the major import in terms of tonnage handled has been petroleum. This trade has favoured the accumulation of capital but has not fostered the growth of industry, although efforts have been made. To the traditional food-processing and furniture industries have been added in recent years petroleum refining, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, and an automobile plant. Pop. (1990) 210,336.